


Keep your head above water

by Turmalina



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s05e09 Rails + Pitons + Pulley + Pipe + Salt, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jack Dalton Lives (MacGyver TV 2016), Kinda, Not Canon Compliant, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29911419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turmalina/pseuds/Turmalina
Summary: Contrary to canon belief, Mac did got hurt while at the mines. Shame he didn't notice earlier...
Comments: 9
Kudos: 41





	Keep your head above water

**Author's Note:**

> Let me clarify: this isn't supposed to be MacDesi or MacRiley. If you read this way, it is not my intention. Hope you can enjoy it anyway.   
> Also: as they didn't show Jack's body, only his coffin, he's alive (ha!)
> 
> Not a native speaker, if you find any mistakes, please let me know!  
> Feedbacks are welcome.

You never know what’s gonna happen through the day when you wake up in the morning.

On the way to exfil, after climbing up rocks and hitting enemies with hammers pulled by levers - both with success -, the team was finally catching their breaths, for the first time on that awful day. 

Desi kept her eyes on the road, with Riley checking their surroundings over her equipment right by her side, feeling the adrenaline slowing abating. She trusted the hacker with all her being, but, the moment Finch guessed Mac was at the tower, Desi had felt her heart stopping, fearing for what would happen to him, as nervous and panicked he sounded for them over comms. In that moment, Desi prayed for Riley, for a solution  _ now _ or neither Desi or Mac would get out alive.

Since their chit-chat in the hotel retrieving the hard drive, Riley had been nothing but brilliant and fantastic, and she managed to get Desi free and baddies down with no time; then Mac had appeared from the tunnel, tired looking but smiling, and then Desi counted as a win and gathered them all in the truck.

“How are we going, Ri?” she asked.

“Not far. Exfil is waiting for us six miles from here. We will be there in what, twenty minutes?”

“Great.”

Silence settled in the truck again, and Desi felt something inside her pulling, in her guts or, maybe, her heart. She was missing something, a signal or a warning, and her instincts were screaming. Desi longed a look at Riley, still concentrated in her rig, pulling windows of information around the screen. With the rearview mirror, Desi searched for Mac; he was right behind her, so it was a little bit hard to see him.

And Mac was so quiet. He was never quiet. 

If he wasn’t talking, he should be messing around with something. Of course, tiredness came for all, but usually Mac’s adrenaline took a longer time to settle down than Desi’s. 

“Mac?” Desi called.

A moment of silence hung over them.

“Mm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah” he answered, without much strength. Riley had noticed it too, because she was now trying to rotate in her seat so she would get a look at Mac. If Desi’s senses were before screaming, now it turned into a siren, over and over roaring in her ears. In a split of a second, she was getting out of her seat, motioning for Riley to take over the wheel, and soon enough in her knees in front of Mac. 

His face had a paleness Desi had never seen before. His whole body was sprawled over the back of the truck, his back partially supported by the truck’s side, as well as his head. Mac’s hair was sweaty and sticking to his forehead; she carefully pushed away his bangs, and even with the motion he barely opened his eyes more than the half opened eyelids. 

Mac felt cold under Desi’s hand, and it wasn’t good.

“Mac.” Another hummed response. “Mac, open your eyes!”

He did, taking a moment to register Desi right in front of him. A smile slowly spreaded over his face, exhaustion dripping from his eyes and slumped shoulders.

“Hey, Des. You good?”

“Yeah, of course.” His pupils seemed fine and she didn’t find any bumps over his head, so a concussion wasn’t really a problem at the moment. Maybe he was just tired, after all? “Are you hurting anywhere, Mac?”

Mac hadn’t always the most direct person and wasn’t one to seek for help or medicine when hurting, aching or whatever. He would try to hide, even if Desi or Riley got a secret deal to keep an eye on him after fighting or pulling dangerous stunts. This time, however, he wasn’t putting any effort in hiding - or keeping himself upright or his eyes opened, for the matter. 

“My hands.” Mac breathed, an almost inaudible mumble. “My side. Left side. ‘Think I landed bad. Pulled a muscle.”

Where exactly he landed, Mac spared words for explaining. Also, Desi didn’t demand any details, already pulling his wrists close, so she could take a look; what she found made her heart ache in sympathy. The skin was raw and skinned, small cuts leaking blood on his fingertips and two, three deep cuts in his palms. One of them definitely would need stitches.

“Ok, Mac, this isn’t good but I will clean and wrap your hands, ok?” Desi said, grabbing the first aid kit from under the passenger seat, checking the items inside - thank God for small mercies. “As soon as we get back to Phoenix, we’re going to medical and they will look at your hands again.”

“‘kay” was the only answer, getting Desi even more worried - if possible, Mac would avoid the medical bay at any costs, and now he was just accepting without arguing? She shook her head, moving her hands carefully over his side, trying to feel if something was displaced. Near his hip, Desi’s finger brushed over a spot and found something wet on his skin; Mac twitched under her ministrations and let out a whimper, his eyes snapping open. 

Quickly, with her pulse hammering in her ears, Desi pulled his jacket to the side and his flannel shirt up.

If she hadn’t been a Ranger and soldier for so long, she would have easily gasped in horror.

“Riley, speed up and make Matty get us medical back up on exfil. _ Now _ .”

“What happened?” Riley’s worry getting into her voice, one hand in the wheel and the other fumbling with her cellphone, dialing Matty’s number.

“Gunshot.”

“What?” This was Mac, trying to keep his head up and hissing when his injured hands bumped with his own clothes.

“No, no, Mac, keep your hands still, ok? I’m gonna take care of you.” Desi gently moved his hands to lay on his own lap. After a quick check, she concluded that the bullet was still lodged in his flesh - one less hole to care about. Gathering some cloth from the aid kit, she pressed hard on the wound, having Mac crying out from pain and surprise. “Sorry, I’m sorry!”

“Is ‘kay.” Mac was panting, eyes sliding close again. 

“MacGyver, eyes open!” Desi shouted, starting both Mac and Riley. “Riley!”

“We’re ten minutes out! Hey, Matty!” Riley turned her attention back to the phone. “We need a medical team ready for us. Mac's been shot. Desi is taking care for now.”

“He’s losing blood.” Mac probably had been shot while in the mine tunnel, those guys over there had the military grade guns; Mac was beyond pale, the waistband of his jeans already soaked in blood. "Too much for my liking."

"I will take care of it," promised Matty. "You, both, look out for our boy."

Desi kept the pressure over the wound, the cloth over it tinged dark red. Mac's breath was coming in short gasps from the effort and pain. She gently touched his chin with one bloodied hand, getting him to look at her. 

"You good? Riley?" Mac asked, trying to get a view of their driver, even though he barely managed to open his mouth to speak.

"We're good, okay Mackie? Let's just focus on you." Even with a bullet lodged right above his hip bone, losing blood and with his precious hands shredded, Mac's thoughts would only concern Desi and Riley's safety. His tendency of self sacrificing was reaching a dangerous level - he hadn't even noticed he got shot, as full of adrenaline he had been, or, more probably, as worried he had been over them. 

"You have to stop doing this, Mac." Riley glanced at him through the rearview mirror. "You're going to give Desi a heart attack soon enough. And Matty will get premature white hair every time you scare her like this."

Mac chuckled weakly.

"And, if Jack were here," she continued, even though it was easy to hear the heartache on her words, "he would lecture you about not taking care of yourself, because you are as important as we are." Riley cleared her throat, having trouble to keep on.

"He would." Mac agreed, and now his eyes were shining with fresh tears, breaking Desi's heart a little bit further. One escaped, running down his cheek. 

"But don't worry, Mac, I got this covered." Riley finished, a stiff laugh passing through her lips. 

"And don't even think about running to Bozer on this one, huh," Desi warned. Mac barely laughed, only his shoulders moving a bit. He was fading right in front of her, and she couldn't do anything else but put more pressure over the wound. It was not bleeding as much it had been, but he had already lost quite a bit. "I'm sure he's going to back us up on this." 

"It hurts." Mac closed his eyes, breathing shallow. "Sorry."

He didn't move.

Desi panicked.

"Mac, open your eyes! Mac!  _ Mac!" _

"Desi! We're here!" Riley stopped the truck in a halt, barely avoiding a tree in the way. In no time, the exfil team had Mac out of the truck and into a gurney, the medic already checking his vitals and shouting to the others. Both women abandoned the vehicle and ran to the helicopter after Mac, now surrounded by the exfil team. He already had an IV and, by the time they were up in the air, Mac got the wound closed minor one bullet.

Both women had found a spot in the corner they could sit without getting into anybody's way - and also could watch Mac from distance. At her side, Desi felt Riley shaking a bit - crying; with one careful movement, she got hold of Riley's shoulder and hugged her hard. They both needed it. 

* * *

The first time Mac woke up, his side hurt. A lot.

There was noise, a rushing sound above - maybe around - him. People talked near him, but Mac couldn’t quite understand the words they were saying. His body felt heavy, strange to himself; there was a weight over his face he couldn’t quite place what it was. He tried to speak, but his voice didn’t work - all he got was a guttural sound from the back of his throat. Which launched him into a coughing fit. 

Someone approached him quickly.

“Agent MacGyver, it’s Abby, ok? Stay still, soon we’re landing in L.A., you are going to be fine.”

This was Abby, the nurse from medical? When did she get here? Mac tried to ask, but his eyes closed again and he felt nothing. 

The second time Mac woke up, the rushing sound was gone. There was a beeping near to his right, although it seemed like a background sound, not quite loud. His body was even heavier than before, and his senses felt muted. Nothing hurted or even ached, and Mac was grateful for that. The weight over his face was different; he gently raised one hand to try and discover what it was exactly, just to find his hand covered in bandages, fingers to wrist. The other was in the same situation.

Oh. 

His slip while climbing the mine did a number on his skin. Mac’s mind drifted to the one time in New Orleans, when he burnt his hands so badly they had to stay covered for weeks. It was worth it, of course, even though it had hurt as hell. Fortunately, this time he had  _ just _ almost lost all the skin he had over them. Surely Mac could hope it would be a quicker recovery this time.

A new check over his hand showed him one IV lodged in the crook of his left arm, and that there was a cannula giving him supplementary oxygen. A second check and Mac recognized a private room in Phoenix Medical, and some machinery by his side explained the beeping sound. How long had him been there? Why was he alone? Where were Riley and Desi? Were they okay? His thoughts raced and suddenly a fear crept up Mac’s mind: what if they were hurt too?!

A small noise got Mac’s attention. Riley was quietly entering the room, clearly trying to make less sound as possible, one coffee cup on her hand; Mac watched as her face lighted up as she noticed he was awake.

“Mac!” 

In no time she was by his side, coffee forgotten.

“Riles.” He managed, his throat rapy. God, how long had been since he had last used his voice? Riley held for him a cup of water, he gratefully drank from the straw. “Riley.”

She got some unshed tears in her eyes. Mac hated to see her like this.

“I’m so glad you’re awake! You have been here since yesterday. I don’t know how much you remember; when we got to exfil you were already out of it. They took care of you, cleaned your hands, took the bullet out and stitched you up. But.. you had lost a lot of blood, and when we got to the plane, it didn’t have enough blood, so only when we got back to Phoenix they could finish the transfusion. They couldn’t give you the good meds because of your low blood level, so you woke up some times during the flight. I think you remember some.”

“Abby. Desi.”

“Yeah, Abby was there too. We’re all the time with you, but Matty convinced Desi to go home after we took turns staying with you.”

Mac wished he could hold Riley’s hand.

“You good?”

“Yeah, both me and Desi got unscathed. You, not so much.” Now her tears were running free. Riley laughed a bit, a small smile reaching her face; she carefully ran her hand through his hair; even though it was sweaty and messy, Mac closed his eyes from the tenderness of the act. It reminded him of Jack, as he did this every time Mac was in medical or home, sick. 

“You gotta stop doing this, Mac.” He opened his eyes to find a serious Riley staring at him. “I know you were worried about us. I know with your dad, Gwen, Jack… you have trouble staying away from us. Letting me and Desi out of your reach. But, Mac, Desi is more than a competent fighter; she’s better than you, for the matter. And I can take care of myself. And we were never alone, even if you weren’t there physically. Mac, you can’t do this to yourself, throw yourself into harm’s way or do all the work; I know you trust us, but, whatever happens… we’re a team, we work together, it is not on you.”

Riley took a deep breath.

“You gotta take care of you too. How did Desi feel when she discovered you got a bullet on your side? How did I feel driving that truck like crazy thinking we wouldn’t get on time? You are important to us, Mac, our family. We love you, you know.”

“I know” he whispered, raising a hand to touch her face. “I… I can’t bear the thought of you being hurt.”

“But this doesn't mean it’s ok if you are the one that gets hurt.” Her expression changed to another soft, sad one. “What would Jack say if he was here?”

Against his will, he smiled.

“That I was a genius, but really dumb too. And,” the words were hard to get out, through the lump on his throat, “that he couldn’t stand to watch me hurting.”

“And he was always right, you know.”

“I do.”

They sat in silence after this, both sharing in silence the sorrow from their loss. Even though his side wasn’t hurting as bad as it had been, Mac felt tired, as all strength had gone with the few words he spoke. Without missing a beat, Riley’s hand was back on his hair, lulling him to sleep.

“Rest, Mac,“ she whispered. ”I’ll be here when you wake up.”

So he closed his eyes, trusting Riley would be there for him. 


End file.
